Karneval – Fasching – Fastnacht

February 13, 2008 By 1 Comment

Karneval, also known as Fasching or Fastnacht (even Fasnet, Fasnacht or Fasenacht), officially begins on 11th November at 11:11, but it only really gets going after Ephiphany.

However the really mad days only start on the Thursday before Rosenmontag, when the main events such as the processions take place.

This Thursday is also known as the Weiberfastnacht – on this day the women celebrate. (A word of warning to all men: don’t wear a tie to work on this day!)

The season is the last chance to drink and be merry before the start of Lent, and it is also to drive out the darkness of the winter.

To hear a simple explanation and a short discussion in German, listen to the podcast:

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Filed Under: German Words Explained, Podcasts Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Pssst! Want to buy a bar of chocolate?

February 12, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Excuse the joke, but I’ve just read this article on the BBC news website about someone finding a Cadbury’s Wispa bar and selling it on eBay, even though it is out of date.

The article says that the bar is rare – because the bars are no longer made. This was something that I didn’t know, so I went over to eBay to have a look at what was on offer.

I found T-shirts, mugs and Wispa bars. Some are on their own, others in packs of 5. There are even boxes of 48 that will set you back 40-50GBP (maybe even more!)

Why this madness? Well, wispa bars were popular (I liked them as well 😉 so people are obviously stocking up on them before they run out again. Perhaps Cadbury’s will take notice and bring them back again.

It made me wonder what other rare bars of chocolate I could find on eBay, and a quick search turned up a Marathon bar (not Snickers!) but not much else.

I couldn’t even find a Raider bar on eBay in Germany – that’s called ‘Twix’ these days!

Filed Under: Cymeradwyo

How the climate change has affected Bolivia

February 10, 2008 By 2 Comments

Bolivia’s foreign minister has blamed the recent floods on climate change, ABC News reported this week.

Bolivia is probably a country that cannot do that much about the climate change. The largest CO2 producers in the countries are probably the cars – but even these rarely travel any long distances.

Now they are looking to the rest of the World to help them – is the el niño/la niña condition a result of climate change? Do we all now have a moral responsibility to help countries affected?

I think we should be looking at two different things – help for situations like this, and long-term action.

Filed Under: Bolivia, Climate Tagged With: , ,

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